As the most untraditional and free-wheeling passer in the game, Patrick Mahomes regularly pulls off incredible, no-look throws that his quarterback colleagues are incapable of matching.

The Kansas City Chiefs third-year star and reigning NFL Most Valuable Player fires accurate, fast-moving spirals across his body. His elusiveness and mobility are off the charts, buying him plenty of time to exploit holes in any defense.

His no-look throws display uncanny vision, field presence and daring. And Mahomes is adept at improvising, including the odd lefthanded throw when he feels like that’s what the situation calls for.

Mahomes’ off-beat game is becoming legendary. And the former Texas Tech star and Tyler native represents an extremely dangerous problem for the Texans’ defense to handle Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.

Mahomes’ skills prompt many perplexing questions for the Texans’ defense. Primarily, how do you defend an unpredictable, physically gifted quarterback with a rare creativity and football IQ?

“That’s God-given, he was born that way,” said Texans veteran safety Tashaun Gipson, who ended Mahomes' streak of no interceptions last season when he threw 50 touchdowns and was named the MVP in his first year as a starter. “That’s the toughest thing. Schematically, there's nothing you can do to stop him from making these ridiculous throws, Whether it's no-looks, whether it's lefthanded, these are things scheme can't affect.

“You just have to go out there and play football, fundamentally sound football. If you give him a little crease, he's definitely going to make you pay for it. Obviously, we’ve got to go out there and be real sound and not wind up on ESPN on his highlight reel.”

Defending Mahomes is something the Indianapolis Colts did a solid job of last week while handing the Chiefs their first loss of the season.

Mahomes injured his ankle and was somewhat hobbled as he was sacked four times. He completed just 22 of 39 passes for 321 yards and only one touchdown in a 19-13 loss.

“Everybody knows how good he is,” said Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year. “He's a great player. He can move around. He can make plays on the run. He can make plays looking one way, looking the other way, not looking, looking backwards. He can do everything. He's a phenomenal player.

“It's a great challenge for us, which we're really looking forward to. As a defensive line, your job is to get to the quarterback and make his job as hard as possible. He obviously does a great job handling that, moving around, throwing on the run.”

The Colts’ win could provide something of a blueprint for how to defend Mahomes as an amplified pass rush led by Justin Houston kept him somewhat off-guard.

“I mean, they obviously got after him a bit,” Watt said. “They did a great job of getting after him, making plays when they had to. Obviously, that's always the goal for a defensive line, is to get after the quarterback and make him uncomfortable and get him on the ground. That's our goal, obviously, as well. Much easier said than done.”

For the season, Mahomes has completed 65.6 percent of his passes for 1,831 yards, 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions for a 114.7 passer rating.

A year ago, Mahomes finished with 5,097 yards, 50 touchdowns and 12 interceptions for a 113.8 passer rating.

Arguably the best quarterback to enter the NFL in the past decade, Mahomes can beat defenses from the pocket or on the perimeter on the run. If he’s confined more in the pocket this week due to an ankle injury that’s improving and didn’t stop him from participating fully in practice Wednesday, that shouldn’t dramatically change the equation for the Chiefs’ offense or lessen the Texans’ arduous task of containing him.

“That's super tough,” Gipson said. “He's not a traditional quarterback. He's definitely not the prototypical quarterback. He can make plays with his legs, but he doesn't want to make them with his legs. He wants to make them with his arm. His feet just buy him time to make these ridiculous throws.

“You’ve got to be real patient. When he's running around making guys look silly, he's throwing the ball 70 yards off of scrambles and throwing across his body, making throws that are unheard of, the biggest thing is putting pressure on him and getting in his face.”

Between Watt and outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus, the pass-rushing tandem has combined for nine sacks. If Mahomes has too much time Sunday, though, he could take over the game by throwing to tight end Travis Kelce and other explosive targets.

“Keeping him in the pocket, the day will be a lot easier if we can contain him,” Gipson said. “You can’t prepare for a guy like that. You can’t duplicate it with any scout team quarterback. What he can do with his arms and his legs is special. He’s exciting. It’s pretty crazy.”

Gipson provided a reminder of his success against him last year.

“I caught his first pick last year, I want you to remember that,” Gipson said. “It might happen again this year.”

Despite all of the talk about the ankle injury, Gipson doesn’t anticipate Mahomes being limited Sunday.

“I don’t think it will change his game,” Gipson said. “He’ll still be a dangerous quarterback in the pocket, a quarterback who can throw the ball 80 yards with a flick of his wrist even if stationary in the pocket.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans beat writer for the Houston Chronicle, joining the paper in August 2015. He was a Baltimore Ravens beat writer from 2001 to 2015, working for The Baltimore Sun, including coverage of Super Bowl XLVII, the Ray Rice domestic violence case and the careers of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Jonathan Ogden, and previously covered the team for the Carroll County Times and the Annapolis Capital.

This marks the second time the Washington, D.C. native has covered the AFC South, previously covering the Tennessee Titans and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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